In thermoform packaging machines, a trough is normally formed in a bottom film/foil in a forming station, the trough being then filled with a product and sealed with a top film in an airtight manner in a sealing station under vacuum and/or a modified atmosphere. The packages produced in this way constitute a compound which is interconnected through the bottom film and are conveyed through the thermoform packaging machine by means of clamp chains provided on both sides of the film. For separating the individual packages from the compound of bottom and top films, a combination comprising a cross cutting station and a subsequent longitudinal cutting station may be provided. In the cross cutting station the compound of bottom and top films is cut transversely to the conveying direction, or strip cuts are punched out if radii should be necessary on the edges of the packages. In this case, the knife may punch out the strip cuts from above, which means that the strip cuts will drop. If there should not be sufficient space for a unit for collecting the strip cuts within the machine frame or for removing them from the machine frame, the punching tool may punch out the strip cuts from below in an upward direction. These strip cuts will then be pushed further up in a receptacle after each step and can finally be removed in one go. In high-performance machines, the receptacles are very high so that they need not be emptied constantly. The strip cuts are here pushed over a projection which extends above a film conveying plane and on which part of the strip cut punched out last rests with its edge thus preventing the strip cuts stacked thereabove from dropping into the cross cutting station and on the packages to be cut. In the latter case malfunctions would be caused in the thermoform packaging machine.
Especially if the strip cuts in question are comparatively thin or not flexurally rigid, there will be a high risk that the weight of the stacked strip cuts cannot be held by the lowermost supported strip cut.